Periocular basal cell carcinoma: cost of topical immunotherapy versus estimated cost of surgical treatment

Purpose: The objective of this study was to compare the estimated cost of clinical and surgical treatment for basl cell carcinoma of the eyelid. Methods: This was a pilot study of 12 patients with basal cell carcinoma receiving treatment with 5% imiquimod cream at the ocular plastic surgery center, medical school University of Sao Paulo (HC-FMUSP, Brazil). The cost of clinical treatment was estimated based on the time of treatment and amount of medication consumed by patients in the home setting. The cost of surgical treatment was estimated by ophthalmologists with experience in reconstructive plastic surgery based on analysis of images of the same patients. Surgeons responded to a questionnaire with four questions about surgical technique, surgical materials required, estimated duration of surgery and type of anesthesia. Results: Immunotherapy lasted from 8 to 12 weeks. All patients reported each cold-stored sachet with 5% imiquimod cream lasted 3 days. According to the institution, a box with 12 sachets costs BRL 480.00. Patients required 1.58-3.11 boxes for complete treatment, corresponding to a total cost of BRL 758.40-1,492.80. Based on image analysis, surgeons evaluated surgery would require 1-3 hours. The estimated cost of surgery room and staff was BRL 263.00, to which the cost of supplies was added. Thus, the total cost of surgical treatment was BRL 272.61-864.82. On the average, immunotherapy was 57,64% more costly than surgical treatment. Conclusions: Malignant eyelid tumors are a common finding in clinical ophthalmology. Surgery is still the treatment of choice at our institution, but immunotherapy with 5% imiquimod cream may be indicated for patients with multiple lesions or high surgical risk and for patients declining surgery for reasons of fear or esthetic concerns. The ability to estimate costs related to the treatment of malignant eyelid tumors is an important aid in the financial planning of health care institutions. Further studies should evaluate the possibility of institutions equating the cost of immunotherapy and surgical treatment by acquiring similar but less expensive medications.

RAND-like Appropriateness Methodology Consensus for Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma in Latin America

PURPOSE: To report the results of a Latin American consensus panel regarding the diagnosis and management of primary open-angle glaucoma and to compare these results with those from a similar panel in the United States. DESIGN: A RAND-like (Research and Development) appropriateness methodology was used to assess glaucoma practice in Latin America. METHODS: The 148 polling statements created for the RAND-like analysis in the United States and 10 additional statements specific to glaucoma care in Latin America were presented to a panel of Latin American glaucoma experts. Panelists were polled in private using the RAND-like methodology before and after the panel meeting. RESULTS: Consensus agreement or disagreement among Latin American experts was reached for 51.3% of statements before the meeting and increased to 66.5% in the private, anonymous meeting after polling (79.0% agreement, 21.0% disagreement). Although there was a high degree of concordance (111 of 148 statements; 75%) between the results of this Latin American panel and the United States panel, there were some notable exceptions relating to diagnostic and therapeutic decision making. CONCLUSIONS: This RAND-like consensus methodology provides a perspective of how Latin American glaucoma practitioners view many aspects of glaucoma and compares these results with those obtained using a similar methodology from practitioners in the United States. These findings may be helpful to ophthalmologists providing glaucoma care in Latin America and in other regions of the world. (Am J Ophthalmol 2012;154: 460-465. (C) 2012 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Avaliação da mucosa sinusal do coelho à presença de implante biodegradável

Pensando em melhorar a qualidade de vida dos pacientes com doenças do humor vítreo, os oftalmologistas começaram a utilizar recentemente implantes biodegradáveis com corticoide. Estes mesmos implantes podem ser uma alternativa no tratamento da RSC e, para isso, realizamos um estudo experimental em seios maxilares de coelhos. OBJETIVO: Avaliar histologicamente a mucosa de seio maxilar de coelhos após a colocação de implante biodegradável de prednisolona. MÉTODO: Dezoito coelhos foram divididos aleatoriamente em dois grupos: Grupo 1: no seio maxilar esquerdo foi inserido um implante biodegradável com prednisolona; Grupo 2: No seio maxilar esquerdo foi inserido um implante biodegradável sem medicação. Os seios maxilares do lado direito serviram como controle. Após 7, 14 e 28 dias foram escolhidos aleatoriamente três coelhos de cada grupo e a resposta tecidual inflamatória foi avaliada. RESULTADOS: Foi encontrada diferença não significativa de inflamação na mucosa, quando comparamos o grupo de coelhos que receberam implantes com e sem medicação com o grupo controle; ou quando comparamos o grupo que recebeu implante com prednisolona com o grupo que recebeu implante sem medicação. CONCLUSÃO: Não foram observados sinais de toxicidade ou inflamação na mucosa do seio maxilar do coelho à presença do implante com ou sem prednisolona.

Subconjunctival Loa loa worm: first case report in Brazil

We report the first case of ocular infestation by Loa loa in Brazil. Loiasis is caused by infestation with Loa loa, a filarial parasite originally found in the rainforests of western and central Africa. It is transmitted by the bite of the fly Chrysops and has been recently described in other places other than Africa, in African immigrants or travellers. Our case is a 33 year-old woman from Cameroon who was living in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for 5 years. She was asymptomatic until one morning she started feeling "something moving" in the left eye. Under topical anesthesia, on the slit lamp, a moving worm was removed from the subconjunctival space, which later was confirmed to be a male Loa loa adult specimen. Blood tests revealed microfilaraemia of 129 mf/mL. The patient was treated with 400 mg oral albendazole for 3 weeks and 60 mg prednisone. This report illustrates an unusual ocular disease, which is extremely rare outside of Africa, but easily diagnosed and treated. Ophthalmologists should be aware of it, in face of an increasingly globalized world.

Dangerous waters: outbreak of eye lesions caused by fresh water sponge spicules

Purpose To describe an extremely uncommon outbreak of eye lesions in a specific area of the Brazilian Amazonia. Methods Prospective noncomparative case series. Fifty-nine patients who developed eye lesions after swimming in the Araguaia river of Tocantins state in Brazil were examined. A team of ophthalmologists equipped with a slit-lamp, gonioscopic lenses, and indirect ophthalmoscopy performed full eye examination. Analysis of the flora and fauna of the river water was undertaken by a group of experts. Results and Conclusions Eighty-three eyes were affected. The most common lesions were corneal opacities seen in 34 eyes and conjunctival nodules diagnosed in 12 eyes. Severe visual acuity loss was detected in seven children with unilateral anterior chamber lesions. Spicules of the sponge species Drulia uruguayensis and Drulia ctenosclera were found inside three blind eyes that have been enucleated for diagnostic purposes. All eye lesions could be attributed to an outbreak of foreign bodies from fresh water sponges. Organic enrichment of the water resulting from the absence of sanitation probably was the key factor, which initiated a cycle of ecological imbalance that provoked human disease.